Greetings from Newport ...

I'm here in historic Newport, R.I., where the Big East holds its annual preseason football media gathering. For me, it's the official start of another year. Two-a-days are three weeks away, but we're already starting to prepare our preseason football section. USF has linebacker Ben Moffitt and center Nick Capogna here, and being chosen to represent the team is an honor that means a lot to both.

On Tuesday, the league will unveil its preseason poll, taken from 24 media members, and we've addressed that in the past month. I'd expect USF to be ranked fourth in the preseason poll, with West Virginia ahead of Louisville at the top and Rutgers still ahead of the Bulls after last year's breakout season. We should also get a first look at USF's football media guide on Tuesday as well.

For now, the Big East site has links up for each team, with previews and updated rosters. If you look close enough, you'll notice some slight changes. I count three players changing weights, with junior running back Shawn Cannon adding 20 pounds to 220 from the spring, and redshirt freshman tight end Quincy Okolie, who could help out at a thin position, adding 25 to 245 pounds. Defensive lineman Woody George, who has moved from defensive tackle to defensive end, has dropped 25 pounds to 250. The only position changes are ones we knew about, with linebacker Houston Hess now at receiver and tight end Matt Aycox shifting to defensive end.

Not sure how much to read into this, but five signees aren't listed on the roster: Josh Bellamy, Claude Davis, Keith McCaskill, Lawrence McCoy and Kavenski McGee. My understanding was that McCaskill was cleared right before the summer B semester started, so it could be the roster was set before that update. Linebacker Calvin Sutton, who told us he hadn't qualified and was hoping to join the team in January, is listed on the roster, but again, I don't expect him to be part of the team this fall.

We'll have plenty more from here tomorrow. What are your unanswered questions?

About the blog

South Florida Bulls fans, you've come to the right place: the USF Sports Bulletin blog. Tampa Bay Times sportswriter Joey Knight, who covers USF, will post news and thoughts on the Bulletin, and we invite your participation in the comments area. Follow the Times' coverage of USF athletics on Twitter.